Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chroniclespoke to Jadeveon Clowney about his recovery and his eventual return to the Texans:

Clowney said he’s making progress. But the former South Carolina star wouldn’t say whether he’ll be ready for the start of training camp. He also vaguely addressed the origin of his injury.

Clowney said he wasn’t dealing with a groin problem until he joined the Texans, who instructed him to quickly deal with the issue rather than let the injury linger.

Asked several times if he’ll be active when training camp begins, Clowney would only say he’s feeling better and taking his rehab day by day.

Original Text

The Houston Texans drafted Jadeveon Clowney with the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NFL draft to form one of the best pass-rushing tandems in football with J.J. Watt. While there's plenty of time for the two to develop that chemistry, the star rookie won't be doing much for the next few weeks.

Per Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston, Texans coach Bill O'Brien informed the media that Clowney had surgery this week to repair a sports hernia.

Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle added that Clowney's minicamp season has ended, but he will be back when training camp opens at the end of July.

O'Brien also noted the surgery isn't a major issue for Clowney, but the team wanted to fix before it became a bigger problem, according to Smith.

Even with the missed time, Clowney has a superstar on the same field he can turn to for advice on how to play in the NFL. Via NFL.com's Chris Wesseling, the former South Carolina star told reporters at his introductory press conference that Watt was already taking him under his wing:

He told me he's going to give me every piece of knowledge to help me improve my game. He's going to show me like a mentor or big brother to me and I told him I appreciate that and I'm looking forward to working with him.

The Texans need Clowney to be the superstar they expect him to be in order to catch Indianapolis in the AFC South. Their defense tied for fifth in sacks two years ago but dropped to 29th in 2013.

Watt, essentially by himself, carried the load up front for Houston with 10.5 sacks last year. Clowney is the perfect complement for him and the team to make a quick turnaround, which is why it made sense to take care of this problem now instead of waiting to let it get worse.